![Florida offensive line coach Phil Trautwein is shown during spring practice at Sanders Practice Fields in Gainesville, FL on Thursday, March 12, 2026. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_2087,h_1173/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/213/01kry43g4je59xf087nk.jpg "Florida offensive line coach Phil Trautwein is shown during spring practice at Sanders Practice Fields in Gainesville, FL on Thursday, March 12, 2026. [Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun]")
As Florida’s class of 2027 has taken shape, the one area the Gators have been the strongest at is offensive line. Phil Trautwein has been a recruiting machine, and Florida has already landed three top-150 prospects along the offensive line.
So while Florida missed out on a four-star offensive tackle on Monday, there isn’t too much reason for Florida fans to worry moving forward.
Florida misses out on Layton Von Brandt
Four-star offensive tackle Layton Von Brandt has committed to Auburn. The move was a bit of a surprise, given that most seemed to think he was Notre Dame-bound heading into the weekend. Florida and Penn State were also listed as finalists.
Von Brandt is listed at 6’6” and 285 pounds and is a consensus top 100 player with all three major services, with ESPN ranking him the highest at 40th overall for the class of 2027.
Von Brandt is no doubt a talented player, and a major reason why Florida even had a shot at him was due to Trautwein. Von Brandt, who is from Delaware, had taken 13 total visits to Penn State, the bulk of which were when Trautwein was still the offensive line coach in Happy Valley. Von Brandt had since taken an unofficial visit to Florida, but it was clear coming into the month that the Gators were still well behind Notre Dame and Auburn.
Landing Von Brandt would have just been running up the score, though, and it’s not shocking, given the current state of recruiting, that Florida didn’t come close in the end. As mentioned, Florida already has three top 150 offensive linemen committed and probably wasn’t willing to pony up even more NIL money for what would be a luxury at this point.
Auburn, meanwhile, is believed to have upped its price, which they have room to do since Von Brandt is just their second OL commit, with the first being a low-rated three-star.
All told, Florida is sitting on 15 total commits for the class of 2027. The 247 Composite rankings currently rank Florida in 5th, while Auburn is 22nd.
Florida fans should keep their eyes on tomorrow when top 100 overall wide receiver Elias Pearl is expected to announce his commitment, and the belief is that he is set to choose Florida.
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